


I Solemnly Swear

by rockethop



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Domestic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Harry Potter - Freeform, Other, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:14:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24572116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rockethop/pseuds/rockethop
Summary: Leslie and Ben celebrate the triplets' eleventh birthday by immersing them in the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
Relationships: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	I Solemnly Swear

**Author's Note:**

> This contains spoilers for Harry Potter. :)

“Sonia, sweetie, wake up.”

Sonia Knope-Wyatt was being gently jostled from her dream by her mother’s soft hands running through her hair. The dark room was chilling Sonia’s exposed arm and she pulled her grey comforter up to underneath her chin with a groan.

“What time is it?” Sonia mumbled into her pillow.

“It’s seven,” Leslie said sweetly.

“Mooooom,” Sonia whined. “It’s Saturday.”

“I know, honey.”

She couldn’t exactly fault her daughter for wanting to sleep in on one of the rare days that their family had few commitments to attend to, but as Hagrid had so cheerfully told Harry, it’s not every day that you turn eleven years old _. _ Between the triplets’ sports practices, social engagements, and Leslie’s and Ben’s work responsibilities, there wasn’t going to be much time to celebrate all together as a family.

“Come on, your dad and your brothers are downstairs already.”

Sonia muttered something under her breath about being down in a minute when the sudden loss of warmth surrounding her body woke her up completely.

“Oh my gosh!” Sonia shrieked as her body began to shiver. Leslie had yanked the covers away from her body and tossed it to the foot of the single bed.

“Come on!” Leslie burst with a now unsuppressed enthusiasm. “You’ll be warmer when you get moving.”

With a roll of her eyes, Sonia stood, pulled on a pair of fluffy socks, and followed her practically-flouncing mother down the stairs. The house was dim in the early morning hours of December and the railing was illuminated by the yellow bulbs of the garland that’d been hung there a few weeks prior. The two entered the living room where they found a bleary-eyed Westley and a yawning Stephen sprawled on the couch with Ben sitting cross-legged on the floor, his back pressed against the front of the couch and a cup of coffee in his hands. Sonia slumped onto the vacant spot between her brothers and draped her knees over her father’s shoulder.

“Alright! Stay put!” Leslie bounced out of the room.

Ben squeezed the ankle closest to his head. “Morning, kid.”

“Good morning,” Sonia replied.

They basked in the soft glow of the lights on the Christmas tree.

“I managed to fend her off for two hours, I’m sorry that I couldn’t make it last longer.”

Sonia huffed in amusement. “At least you tried, Dad.”

Leslie returned to the living room with three snowy owl stuffed animals tucked under her arms, each of which had an envelope with a red wax seal hanging from its neck by a ribbon.

“Okay, here we go!” She distributed a stuffed animal to each of her children who inspected the envelopes before swapping the owls amongst themselves. In her excitement, Leslie had given each child an incorrectly addressed letter.

As Sonia held the letter, she noticed her mother’s slanted cursive depicted in the green ink. She flipped the envelope over and pushed her finger under the flap to break the seal and retrieve the folded paper that had been stylized to resemble parchment.

“Dear Ms. Knope-Wyatt,” Sonia read aloud to humor Leslie. “We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.” She raised her eyes to gauge Leslie’s reaction and realized that her mother had been mouthing along with her. “Please find an enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on January 1. We await your owl by no later than December 27. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress.”

Ben swallowed his mouthful of coffee then asked, “Wasn’t she the Deputy Headmistress?”

“Yes, but then Dumbledore died and then it was Snape and the Carrows when Hogwarts was under siege by Voldemort, and then she took the office after the Second Wizarding War. Come on, babe, keep up!” She beamed.

Ben twisted to face his daughter and shot her a look of exasperation before shaking his head and returning to his coffee.

“Thank you, Mom.” Sonia smiled.

“Thank you,” said Stephen.

Westley’s expression of gratitude was delayed by a yawn that he’d failed to suppress.

“Aw.” Leslie pressed her lips together, evidently pleased with herself. “Okay, everyone, into the kitchen!”

The four dragged themselves to their feet to follow her through the hall.

“Why are all the lights turned off?” Westley asked before turning the corner into the kitchen.

His query required no response as the answer was right before them. The ceiling was adorned with dozens of floating plastic candles, each differing in length, that were casting shadows on the dining room table. Stephen, Sonia, and Westley took a seat in their respective chairs while admiring the artificial flickering of the candles. Ben emerged with stacks of pancakes that had been dyed with food coloring to match the colors of each child’s Hogwarts house according to the Pottermore sorting quizzes they’d taken - blue for Sonia, green for Stephen, and red for Westley - and placed the plates in front of the corresponding child, each stack adorned with a single unlit candle. Leslie didn’t believe in waiting until the evening for the thrill of blowing out a birthday candle. With a click, a flame erupted from the lighter within Leslie’s hand and she ignited the candle on each plate.

Ben turned towards his wife with an amused grin. With an assumed posh accent, he asked, “Shall we serenade them with ‘Jolly Good Fellow’?” He took another sip of his coffee.

Leslie answered gruffly without missing a beat, “The Army song, sergeant!”

“Ah, yes, lieutenant!” He raised the mug in salute and then lowered it to rest upon the kitchen island.

Leslie scurried to the opposite side of the table so as to attack the triplets from both sides.

Ben cupped his hands around his mouth, “I don’t know what I’ve been told!”

Leslie ducked her head between Sonia and Westley. “I don’t know what I’ve been told!”

“But someone here is getting old!”

“But someone here is getting old!” Leslie echoed next to Stephen’s ear, causing him to flinch away from her.

“Happy!”

“Happy!”

“Birthday!”

“Birthday!”

“Happy birthday to you!” They finished in unison.

Westley scowled. “The regular ‘happy birthday’ works fine.”

“How do you guys have so much energy?” Sonia rubbed her temples.

“There’s no way that we’re related to you two.” Stephen griped.

Leslie tousled her son’s hair and gave him a playful shove.

The triplets each blew out the candles in front of them and dug into the food on their plates. Leslie and Ben grabbed their own plates of colorful pancakes and slipped into the remaining empty seats. Leslie had been no more than three bites in before she turned her attention to Westley.

“Alright, Wes, would you rather be a half-giant like Hagrid or a goblin like Professor Flitwick?”

He pondered her question whilst chewing and swallowed before answering, “A half-giant.”

“Why’s that?”

Westley shrugged. “I dunno. He’s cool.”

Leslie smiled then turned to her daughter. “Son, which Deathly Hallow would you want the most?”

“The invisibility cloak,” she answered right away. “Not even Death can find you when you’re using it.”

“That’s a good point. Stephen,” she looked across the table. “Would you rather be an animagus or a werewolf?”

“Werewolf.” He mumbled between bites.

“But you can’t choose when you turn into a werewolf. You can choose when you turn into your animagus.” Sonia countered wisely.

“That’s true.” Leslie thought aloud. “Final answer, honey?”

Stephen nodded definitively. “Still werewolf.”

“No argument from me,” Leslie replied. “One final question for a mister Ben Wyatt.”

“Go for it.” He said.

“Do you have any idea what we’re talking about?”

“I have… an inkling.” He waved his fork defensively. “It’s been a few years.”

They’d finished their breakfast in comfortable silence before Leslie excused herself from the table to grab some presents from the coat closet in the hall as Ben cleared the table. She’d had to make multiple trips, but when she’d finished each of the triplets had two boxes with Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin wrapping paper in their hands.

They’d opened the top packages all together and revealed scarves with their Houses’ color schemes, to which Ben enthusiastically remarked that they could christen by shoveling the driveway.

“No chores on our birthday,” Stephen replied.

“That snow’s not going anywhere any time soon.” Ben chuckled.

WIth a collective grumble from the children and lighthearted chastising from his wife, Ben instructed them to open the second round of gifts.

Westley had unveiled a Dungeons and Dragons player’s handbook, Sonia had received a new bag for her skates, and Stephen unboxed the most recent Nerf gun to have caught his attention. Celebrating three birthdays so close to Christmas while trying to preserve the magic and distinctness of the two occasions was becoming increasingly difficult as the triplets got older, but the looks of amazement on her children’s faces upon unwrapping their gifts served as an excellent motivator for Leslie. The kids had begun to go off on their separate ways when Leslie protested.

“Wait, wait! Let me get a picture of you three with your scarves around your neck.”

Sonia wedged herself between her brothers as Leslie pulled out her phone and took their picture.

“Alright, you’re free now, get out of here.” She laughed as they bounded up the stairs, no doubt to crawl back into bed.

Leslie collected the discarded wrapping paper into one massive wad and crammed it into the recycling bin. She made her way over to her husband who was standing at the sink and washing dishes.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit unfair?” Leslie wrapped her arms loosely around Ben’s waist from behind.

“What’s that?”

“That those three get to do a whole lot of unwrapping in such a short amount of time.”

Ben laughed. “Tell me about it. I think I got a cramp yesterday from wrapping Christmas and birthday presents.”

Leslie leaned her head against his back. “It’s early. We could do a bit of unwrapping ourselves.”

“Why would we -”

Realization set in.

“ _ Oh _ .”

Ben set down the plate he was rinsing and washed his hands, dried them, and took Leslie’s within his own and set off towards their bedroom.

“Accio panties.” He growled against her ear once the door was shut and locked behind them.

“The summoning charm?” Leslie giggled. “I’m impressed, I really am. But there’s a problem with that.”

Ben pulled away and looked at her earnestly. “What? Did I say it wrong?”

“I’m not wearing any.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This was a lot of fun to write since I'm such a big fan of the Harry Potter series. I don't necessarily believe that Ben is simply just a casual fan of the series, but I liked the idea of Leslie asking the kids questions that spanned the entire series and Ben just sitting there not really knowing what's going on. :)


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